The Dodo Archive

Territorial Hawk Knocks Drone Out Of The Sky

It's never been easier for any Tom, Dick or Harry to take to the air, given the proliferation of affordable quadcopters on the market today. But apparently not everyone is excited to suddenly have to share the sky with these mechanical new arrivals.

While out flying his fancy quadcopter earlier this week in Cambridge, Mass., amateur drone pilot Christopher Schmidt had a less-than-welcoming sort of encounter with one of the region's more experienced flyers - a rather unhappy-looking hawk.

"As far as I could tell, the hawk came out unscathed, and having defeated his prey, was happy to retreat. (As soon as he flew at me, I throttled down the props to try to minimize any harm to the bird.)," adds Schmidt on YouTube.

As more and more drones start filling the air in birds' well-guarded territory, attacks like this one may become more common.